| 2 Bukhari hadiths


49
It was narrated from ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit  that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came out to tell the people when Laylat al-Qadr would be, but two of the Muslim men suddenly started arguing, so he said: “I came out to tell you when Laylat al-Qadr would be, but So-and-so and So-and-so started arguing, so it [knowledge of when Laylat al-Qadr would be] was taken away from me, and perhaps that is better for you, so seek it in seven and nine and five.”.

Commentary : Laylat al-Qadr in the month of Ramadan is of great significance and immense virtue, and we have been commanded to seek it and spend the night in prayer, out of faith and seeking reward with Allah (may He be glorified and exalted).
In this hadith, ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came out one day to tell the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) about Laylat al-Qadr and precisely when it would occur, but he saw two men arguing and disputing, so he said: I came out to tell you about Laylat al-Qadr and which night it would be, but I saw two men arguing, so knowledge of its time was taken away. Thus they were deprived of the blessing of (the knowledge of) Laylat al-Qadr; otherwise Laylat al-Qadr will still remain until the Day of Resurrection. Then he said: Perhaps taking away the knowledge of when it will be and leaving its time ambiguous is better for you, so that you will strive hard in seeking it, and thus increase your reward. If it was known exactly when it would be, you might limit your hard work to that time, so you would make less effort and receive less reward. Then he said: So seek it – that is, look for it and strive hard – on the twenty ninth, the twenty seventh, and the twenty fifth of Ramadan. And it was said that what is meant is: look for it on the odd-numbered nights of Ramadan, when only nine days are left, or seven, or five, so Laylat al-Qadr may be on the twenty-first night, or the twenty-third, or the twenty-fifth, and so on. That is assuming that the month is complete (with thirty days), so if you take away nine, you get twenty-one. And it was said that what is meant by nine in the hadith is the night before the twenty-second, what is meant by seven is the night before the twenty-fourth, and so on. This is assuming that the month is complete (with thirty days). And it was said that it varies from one year to another.
This hadith also condemns arguing and disputing, because they are a cause of punishment for everyone for the sin of a few.
The hadith also indicates that sins may be a cause of some issues of religion that one needs to know being hidden from him, so the more people commit sins, the more likely it is that this will lead to some issues of religion becoming unknown to them. .

50
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came out to the people one day, then Jibril came to him and said: What is faith (iman)? He said: “Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, the meeting with Him, and His Messengers, and to believe in the resurrection.” Jibril said: What is Islam? He said: “Islam is to worship Allah, not associating anything with Him; to establish prayer; to give the obligatory zakah; and to fast Ramadan.” He said: What is ihsan? He said: “It is to worship Allah as if you see Him, for although you do not see Him, He sees you.” He said: When will the Hour be? He said: “The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking, but I shall tell you about its portents: when the slave woman gives birth to her mistress, and when the insignificant camel herders compete in building lofty structures. It is one of the five things that no one knows except Allah.” Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) recited the words: {Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour…} Luqman 31:34]. Then the man turned and left. [The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)] said: “Bring him back,” but they did not see anything. Then he said: “That was Jibril, who came to teach the people their religion.”.

Commentary : This hadith discusses different religious duties and acts of worship, both outward and inward, including the tenets of faith, physical actions, sincerity in the heart, and caution regarding everything that could undermine righteous deeds. It covers the basic principles, important issues and foundations of faith, as Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained the meaning of faith, Islam and ihsan when Jibril (peace be upon him) came to him in the form of a man and asked him questions, when the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had come out among the people and was sitting with them. The bringer of the revelation, Jibril (peace be upon him), came to him and asked him about faith, in order to teach the people their religion. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: It means to believe in Allah, which means believing in and affirming His existence, and that He possesses all attributes of majesty and perfection, far above any shortcomings; and that He is One, true, the Eternal Refuge, unique, the Creator of all creation, Who does whatever He wills in His dominion, and decrees whatever He wills concerning His creation; that He alone is deserving of all kinds of worship, to the exclusion of all others.
Believing in His angels means believing in all the angels of Allah (may He be exalted): both those who have been mentioned by name – such as Jibril, Mika’il and Israfil – in whom we must believe in detail, and those who have not been mentioned by name, in whom we must believe in general terms.
Believing in His Books means affirming that all the Books that were sent down to the Prophets and Messengers, such as the Torah, Gospel and Qur’an, are the words of Allah and came from Him, and that what they contain – of that which has not been distorted – is true; that Allah sent down the Qur’an to determine what is true in those [previous] Books and to confirm them, and that it is protected from distortion.
Believing in the meeting with Allah means believing and affirming that people will stand before Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) for the reckoning and the requital of their deeds.
Believing in the Messengers of Allah means believing in and affirming all the Messengers of Allah, and believing that they spoke the truth in what they conveyed from Allah (may He be exalted), and that Allah supported them with miracles which proved that they spoke the truth; that they conveyed Allah’s message from Him and explained to people what He commanded them to explain; that we must respect them and not differentiate between them; and that we must believe that the last of them is our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and that all of mankind are obliged to believe in him and follow him.
Believing in the resurrection means believing that Allah will resurrect those who are in their graves and will give life to the dead.
Then Jibril (peace be upon him) asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about Islam, and he replied: It means to worship Allah, not associating anything with Him, and obeying Him with submission, humility and love.
You should establish prayer, and establishing prayer is done by regularly offering the five daily prayers on time, with all their conditions, essential parts and obligatory actions.
You should give zakah, which is obligatory, and give it to those who are entitled to it. It is an obligatory, financial act of worship, to be given on every type of wealth that meets the minimum threshold, as defined in Islamic teachings, when one full lunar (or Hijri) year has passed since acquiring that wealth, giving one quarter of one tenth. One should also give zakah on an‘am animals [camels, cattle and sheep] and other livestock; zakah on crops, fruits, and trade goods; and zakah on rikaz, which is buried treasure that is brought out of the earth and, it was said, minerals and metals, on the basis of their nisab (minimum threshold), to be given at the time at which their zakah becomes due. Giving zakah in the proper manner to those who are entitled to it brings increased blessing (barakah) to wealth, and brings great reward in the hereafter, whereas being stingy and withholding it from those who are entitled to it brings bad consequences in this world and the hereafter.
And you should fast Ramadan. Fasting means refraining, with the intention of worship, from food, drink, sexual activity and other things that break the fast, from the break of dawn until the sun sets.
Then he asked him about ihsan, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) responded by saying: It means that you worship Allah like one who sees Allah (may He be exalted), and Allah sees him, so you do not omit any aspects of humility, submission, sincerity, and utmost alertness in controlling your thoughts and physical movements, paying attention to proper etiquette both outward and inward, so long as you are in a state of worship. The ultimate level of ihsan is for the believer to worship his Lord as if he sees Him in his heart, so he will constantly bear in mind the fact that he is in that state (as if seeing Allah in his heart). If he is not able to do that and it is too difficult for him, then he moves to a different level of ihsan, which is to worship Allah with the awareness that Allah sees him and knows what he conceals in his heart and what he does openly, for nothing he does is hidden from Him.
Then Jibril (peace be upon him) said: Tell me about the Hour, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking. In other words, all of creation is the same with regard to knowledge of when the Hour will begin, for none of them have any knowledge of that in reality. This indicates that Allah (may He be exalted) alone has kept the knowledge of it to Himself, hence he said: It is one of the five things that no one knows except Allah, then he recited the verse: {Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour and sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die} [Luqmaan 31:34]. These are the keys of the unseen, which no one knows except Allah.
Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: But I shall tell you about its portents. As it is not possible to know the time of the Hour, which he was asked about, he moved on to describing its portents, which are the signs that the Hour is close at hand. The first of its signs is that the slave woman will give birth to her mistress. What is meant is that there would be many conquests in the lands of the disbelievers, which would lead to the acquisition of slaves, so that a woman would be brought from the land of disbelief when she was young, and she would be freed in the Muslim lands, then her mother would be brought as a slave after her, then the daughter would buy her and employ her as a servant, not knowing that she was her mother. This indeed happened in the history of Islam. Or it may be that slave women would give birth to kings, so the king’s mother would be one of his subjects when he was her master and the master of others among his subjects, and in charge of their affairs. Or it may be that what is meant is that defiant disobedience towards parents would become widespread, to the extent that children would treat their mothers like slaves, by insulting them and humiliating them.
The second sign is that the insignificant camel herders will compete in building lofty structures. What is meant by insignificant is unknown herders and shepherds, or those who have nothing and are destitute. Competing in the building of lofty structures means that they will become rich and kings, ruling people.
What is mentioned in this hadith is only two of the minor portents of the Hour; there are many portents, many of which have already appeared.
After the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had answered these questions, the questioner went away. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed his companions to bring him back to him, but they could not see anything, either the man or his tracks. It was said that perhaps he said “bring him back to me” in order to alert the Sahabah and make them realize that this was an angel, not a human being. Hence he said to them, “That was Jibril, who came to teach the people their religion”, that is, the principles of their religion. He attributed the act of teaching to him, even though he just asked questions, because he was the cause of this teaching, so he attributed it to him, or because teaching was the aim behind his asking these questions, or because he wanted them to learn, as they did not ask. Or it may be that through Jibril’s questions to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in the presence of the Sahabah, he wanted to show them that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had a great deal of knowledge, and that his knowledge came through the revelation, so that they would become more eager to acquire knowledge and be more interested in it.
This hadith indicates that when the words Islam and faith (iman) are mentioned together, each of them has its own meaning, and when one of them is mentioned on its own, it includes the meaning of the other.
It also indicates that the angels may appear in human form, as referred to in the verse: {Then We sent to her Our Angel, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man} [Maryam 19:17].
It also highlights the importance of sincerity and remembering that Allah is always watching.
And it indicates that if a knowledgeable person is asked about something he does not know, he should say, “I do not know”, and that does not detract from his status; rather it is indicative of his prudence, piety and abundant knowledge..

52
It was narrated that an-Nu‘man ibn Bashir said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) saying: “That which is halal is clear and that which is haram is clear, and between them are doubtful matters which many people do not know. Whoever avoids the doubtful matters will have protected his faith and his honour, but whoever falls into the doubtful matters is like a shepherd who grazes his flock around a sanctuary: soon he will transgress upon it. Indeed, every king has a sanctuary and, indeed, the sanctuary of Allah on His earth is His sacred limits. Indeed, in the body there is a piece of flesh, which if it is sound, the entire body will be sound, and if it is corrupt, the entire body will be corrupt; indeed, it is the heart.”.

Commentary : This hadith is one of the hadiths which describes the central tenets of Islam. It is a very important hadith, and one of the principal foundations of Islamic teaching. It is an example of the concise speech of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), as in it he urges the Muslims to err on the side of caution and avoid doubtful matters concerning which there is no clear reference in the religious texts. He explained that what is halal is clear and evident; it is everything for which there is no evidence that it is prohibited in the Qur’an, Sunnah, scholarly consensus (ijma‘) or analogy (qiyas), because the basic principle is that things are permissible [unless there is evidence to the contrary]. Similarly, what is haram is also clear and evident; it is everything for which there is evidence that it is prohibited, whether that evidence is from the Qur’an, the Sunnah or scholarly consensus. He stated that between what is halal and what is haram, there is a third category, which is doubtful matters. These are matters concerning which there is no clear ruling as to whether it is halal or haram, so many people are not able to know the ruling on these matters. This includes all doubtful and ambiguous matters, such as wealth from dubious sources, or wealth that is mixed with riba, or other kinds of unlawful wealth. As for cases when one is certain that this wealth has definitely been acquired through riba, then it is one hundred percent haram, beyond any shadow of a doubt, and it cannot be regarded as doubtful or dubious. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained that whoever avoids doubtful matters is erring on the side of caution, so his faith will be protected from falling short, and his honour will be protected from any aspersions, criticism or bad reputation. As for the one who falls into doubtful matters and has the audacity to accept them, he is exposing himself to danger, for he will soon fall into that which is haram, like a shepherd who grazes his flock around a sanctuary, which is the land that the king sets aside for his own flocks, and warns anyone who grazes his flocks there without his permission that he will face a severe punishment. If a shepherd grazes his sheep around the land that the king has set aside for himself and designated for his personal use, his flock may enter the sanctuary, in which case he will deserve the punishment of the ruler. By the same token, the one who is careless about doubtful matters is in danger, because those matters may be haram, and he may fall into them, or he may become careless about doubtful matters, and that leads to him becoming negligent and careless in general, so he begins to fall into haram matters deliberately. Falling into dubious matters may lead to falling into minor sins, and falling into minor sins may lead to falling into major sins. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.
Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Indeed, every king has a sanctuary and, indeed, the sanctuary of Allah on His earth is His sacred limits.” In other words, the sanctuary of Allah is the sins that He has prohibited to His slaves; whoever enters His sanctuary by committing any of those sins is doomed, and whoever comes close to it by doing doubtful things is in danger.
Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) spoke a comprehensive word which explains what causes the sons of Adam to behave in a righteous or corrupt manner, which is that the basis of physical wellbeing has to do with the soundness or otherwise of the heart. If the heart is (spiritually) sound, then the person’s intentions will only seek what is right and proper, and all his physical faculties will be sound, and he will not be prompted to do anything except obey Allah and avoid His wrath. Thus he will be content with what is halal and have no need of what is haram. But if the heart is (spiritually) corrupt, then the person’s intentions will be corrupt, and all his physical faculties will be corrupt, and he will be prompted to disobey Allah (may He be glorified in exalted) and to do that which incurs His wrath. He will not be content with what is halal; rather he will hasten to seek that which is haram, in accordance with what his heart desires and the extent to which it drifts away from the truth..

53
It was narrated that Abu Jamrah said: I used to sit with Ibn ‘Abbas, who would invite me to sit next to him. He said: Stay with me so I can give you a share of my wealth. So I stayed with him for two months. Then he said: When the delegation of ‘Abdul Qays came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), he said: “Who are the people – or who are the delegation?” They said: [The tribe of] Rabi‘ah. He said: “Welcome to the people – or the delegation. You have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to regret.” They said: O Messenger of Allah, we cannot come to you except in the sacred month, for between us and you there is this tribe of the disbelievers of Mudar. Tell us something clear that we can tell to those whom we left behind, by means of which we may enter Paradise. And they asked him about four kinds of drinks. He commanded them to do four things, and forbade to them four things. He commanded them to believe in Allah alone. He said: “Do you know what believing in Allah alone means?” They said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: “Testifying that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” [And he commanded them] to establish prayer, give zakâh and fast Ramadan, and to give one fifth of the war booty. And he forbade them to use four things: glazed pitchers, gourds, hollowed-out stumps, and varnished jars. And he said: “Memorize them [these rulings] and tell them to those you left behind.”.

Commentary : The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to teach the people all matters that would benefit them in their religious affairs, and in this world and the hereafter, so that they would be fully aware of them. In this hadith, the Tabi‘i Abu Jamrah says: I used to sit with Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), i.e., at the time when he was the governor of Basra during the caliphate of ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) used to honour him and make him sit next to him. Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Stay with me so that you can help me to understand those who come to ask questions. That was because he used to translate for him and tell him what non-Arab petitioners wanted, and he would tell the petitioner what Ibn ‘Abbas said. So he stayed with him for two months, and he heard this hadith from Ibn ‘Abbas, in which he told the story of the arrival of the delegation of ‘Abdul Qays who came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). ‘Abdul Qays was the name of a tribe. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) asked them about their lineage, and they said: Rabi‘ah, referring to their ancestor. Rabi‘ah was the son of Nizar ibn Ma‘add ibn ‘Adnan. They mentioned Rabi‘ah because ‘Abdul Qays was one of his sons. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) welcomed them and said: Welcome to the people who have come with nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to regret. What is meant is that none of them delayed becoming Muslim out of stubbornness, so neither they nor their families were taken captive, or anything else of that nature, that could be a cause of shame or regret. This serves to highlight their honourable position, as they entered Islam willingly, without being subjected to any kind of humiliation.
They said to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): We can only come to you during the sacred month. They mentioned the word in the singular, but what is meant is all four sacred months, namely Rajab, Dhul Qa‘dah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram. They were only able to come during these months, and not others, because the Arabs used to refrain from fighting during these months; the disbelievers of the tribes of Mudar lived between Rabi‘ah and Madinah, and the tribe of Rabi‘ah could not reach Madinah except by travelling through their land; they were afraid of them, except during the sacred months, because they refrained from fighting at that time. They asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to enjoin upon them something clear, by means of which they could distinguish what was true and what was false, so that they could tell their people in their homeland about it. So the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) enjoined them to do four things: he enjoined them to believe in Allah, and explained that that meant bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. This twin declaration of faith (shahadatayn) must be uttered verbally, whilst acknowledging and believing it in the heart, acting in accordance with what these words imply, believing, affirming and testifying to the oneness of Allah (may He be exalted), and that none is rightfully worshipped except Allah; and acknowledging the message of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah and affirming that he is the last of the prophets and messengers, and that it is obligatory upon all people to follow him and believe in him.
Then he enjoined them to establish prayer, which means regularly offering the five daily prayers on time, with all their conditions, essential parts and obligatory actions.
Then he enjoined them to give zakah, which is an obligatory, financial act of worship, to be given on every type of wealth that meets the minimum threshold, as defined in Islamic teachings, when one full lunar (or Hijri) year has passed since acquiring that wealth, giving one quarter of one tenth. One should also give zakah on an‘am animals [camels, cattle and sheep] and other livestock; zakah on crops, fruits, and trade goods; and zakah on rikaz, which is buried treasure that is brought out of the earth and, it was said, minerals and metals, on the basis of their nisab (minimum threshold), to be given at the time at which their zakah becomes due. Giving zakah in the proper manner to those who are entitled to it brings increased blessing (barakah) to wealth, and brings great reward in the hereafter, whereas being stingy and withholding it from those who are entitled to it brings bad consequences in this world and the hereafter, as has been explained in many texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Zakah is to be given to those who are entitled to it, who are mentioned in the verse: {Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise} [al-Tawbah 9:60].
Then he enjoined them to fast Ramadan, which means refraining, with the intention of worship, from food, drink, sexual activity and other things that break the fast, from the break of dawn until the sun sets.
Then he added: You should give one-fifth of the war booty, because they were neighbours of the disbelievers of Mudar, and they were people who fought in jihad and captured booty. Booty refers to anything that the Muslims seized of the wealth and property of the disbelievers by means of prevailing over them and defeating them. They were to give one fifth (khums) to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), as Allah explained in the verse: {Know that one-fifth of the booty (spoils of war) is for Allah, His Messenger, close relatives of the Messenger…} [al-Anfal 8:41], to be spent in the ways prescribed in the religious texts.
Some may be confused by the fact that the report says that he enjoined four things, but mentioned five. The response to that is that the first of the four things that are enjoined is the establishing of prayer. The twin declaration of faith was mentioned only for blessing (barakah). Or, it was suggested, that prayer and zakah were counted as one thing, because they are always mentioned together in the Book of Allah (may He be exalted), or because giving the one fifth is included in the general meaning of giving zakah, and what they have in common is that a specific amount of wealth is to be given in some cases but not in others.
Then he said: And he forbade four things. What is meant is that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade them to use four types of vessels for their food and drink. The first type was glazed pitchers, which were earthenware jars that were painted green or red, or glazed with vitreous material that was used to coat the earthenware jar to block all tiny holes. The second type was gourds, which are a type of squash. What was prohibited was using them as vessels after emptying them out and making them hollow. The third type was hollowed-out stumps, which refers to hollowing out the base of a palm tree so that it could be used as a vessel. The fourth type was varnished jars, which are jars that were coated with tar or pitch, which is made from a plant that is burned after it has dried out; similar substances were used for caulking ships and the like.
The prohibition on using these vessels in particular was because food and drink that were kept in them would soon start to change, and perhaps people might drink from them without realizing that a change had occurred. Then after that, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) granted a concession allowing people to use all kinds of vessels, whilst prohibiting drinking anything that caused intoxication, as was narrated in Sahih Muslim: “I used to forbid you to soak [dried dates and the like] in water skins, but now soak [such things] in all kinds of vessels, but do not drink anything that causes intoxication.”
Then at the end of the hadith the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) advised the members of the delegation to memorize these words of his, and convey them to those whom the delegation of ‘Abdul Qays had left behind.
This hadith tells us that people of virtue and prominent figures may be sent to meet leaders when there are important matters to be discussed.
It shows that an apology or explanation may be given before raising an issue.
It highlights the main issues and pillars of Islam, apart from Hajj.
It indicates that righteous actions may be called faith.
It indicates that a knowledgeable person may honour a prominent figure.
It shows that a knowledgeable person may seek help from his companions in explaining something to those who are present, and to understand their questions.
It indicates that the knowledgeable person should urge the people to convey knowledge and spread awareness of Islamic rulings.
It indicates that there is no shame in the seeker of knowledge or the one who is requesting a fatwa asking the knowledgeable person to explain his answer further. .

54
It was narrated from ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Actions are but by intentions, and each person will have what he intended. So whoever migrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, his migration was for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, and whoever migrated to achieve some worldly gain or to marry a woman, then his migration was for the purpose for which he migrated.”.

Commentary : This important hadith represents one of the main principles and foundations of Islamic teaching, to the extent that it was said concerning it that it constitutes one third of knowledge. In this hadith, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Actions are but by intentions,” so no prescribed act of worship is valid without being preceded by the intention. “And each person will have what he intended,” so all the Muslim will get from his actions is what he intended thereby. This ruling is general in meaning and applies to all actions, whether they are acts of worship, interactions with others or ordinary actions. Whoever intends by his actions to attain some worldly benefit will gain nothing but that worldly benefit, even if it was an act of worship, and thus he will not attain any reward thereby. Whoever intended by his action to draw closer to Allah (may He be exalted) and to seek His pleasure will attain reward through his deed, even if it was an ordinary action, such as eating or drinking. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave some practical examples to explain the impact of intentions on actions. Hence he stated that whoever intended by migrating to obey the command of his Lord, seek His pleasure, and flee for the sake of his faith from persecution, his migration was a kind of hijrah that is prescribed in Islamic teachings and will be accepted by Allah (may He be exalted), and he will be rewarded for it because of his sincere intention. However, the one who migrated in pursuit of some worldly gain or personal objective, such as wealth, trade, or marriage to a beautiful woman, “then his migration was for the purpose for which he migrated,” and he will not attain anything from his migration except that worldly benefit that he intended, and he will not attain any reward for that..